Darren Naish

Research

He obtained a geology degree at the University of Southampton and later studied vertebrate palaeontology under British palaeontologist David Martill at the University of Portsmouth, where he obtained both an M. Phil. and PhD.

Though initially beginning his research career in palaeontology with the intention of working on fossil marine reptiles, Naish became known for his doctoral work on the basal tyrannosauroid theropod Eotyrannus, a dinosaur that he, together with Steve Hutt and colleagues, named in 2001. He has published articles on the Wealden Supergroup theropods Thecocoelurus, Calamospondylus and Aristosuchus. With Martill and "Dino" Frey, he named a new illegally acquired Brazilian compsognathid theropod Mirischia. In 2004, Naish and Gareth Dyke reinterpreted the controversial Romanian fossil Heptasteornis. Suggested by other authors to be a giant owl, troodontid or dromaeosaurid, it was argued by Naish and Dyke to be an alvarezsaurid, and as such is the first member of this group to be reported from Europe. Other fragmentary European alvarezsaurid specimens have since been reported.

Naish has also published work on sauropod dinosaurs, pterosaurs, fossil marine reptiles, turtles, marine mammals and other fossil vertebrates, and he has also produced articles on other aspects of zoology. He published a series of articles on poorly known cetaceans during the 1990s and in 2004 published a review article on the giant New Zealand gecko Hoplodactylus delcourti.

In 2004 Naish and colleagues described a giant Isle of Wight sauropod dinosaur that appears closely related to the North American brachiosaurid Sauroposeidon, and informally referred to as Angloposeidon. Prior to the 2006 description of Turiasaurus from Spain, this was the largest dinosaur reported from Europe. In 2005 he coauthored the description of the new Cretaceous turtle Araripemys arturi, and in 2006 he and David Martill published a revision of the South American crested pterosaurs Tupuxuara and Thalassodromeus. During 2007 and 2008, Naish and Martill published a major revision of British dinosaurs; Naish also published work with Barbara Sánchez-Hernández and Michael J. Benton on the vertebrate fossils of Galve in Spain. The Galve fossils are significant in including istiodactylid pterosaurs, heterodontosaurids and spinosaurines. In 2007, Naish co-authored the description of the new sauropod Xenoposeidon with fellow Portsmouth-based palaeontologist Mike P. Taylor. In 2008 he published an evaluation of azhdarchid pterosaurs with Mark Witton, in which they argued that azhdarchids were stork- or ground hornbill-like generalists, foraging in diverse environments for small animals and carrion. Along with his colleagues Mike Taylor and Matt Wedel he published a paper on sauropod neck posture in 2008. In 2010 Naish published a paper on the theoretical flotation abilities of giraffes. In 2011 Hone, Naish and Cuthill published a paper on mutual selection in dinosaurs and pterosaurs. In 2013, Naish described Vectidraco daisymorrisae, a small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Isle of Wight. Also in 2013 Naish and Witton published a follow-up to their 2008 paper on terrestrial stalking in azhdarchid pterosaurs. In 2015 Naish and colleagues published on a new, as-yet-unnamed, Transylvanian pterosaur taxon.

In 2017, a new species of pycnodont fish, Scalacurvichthys naishi, was named after Naish.

Below is a list of taxa that Naish has contributed to naming:

Publications

Naish has published several popular books on prehistoric animals including Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved co-authored with Paul Barrett (Natural History Museum 2016) Dinosaur Record Breakers (Carlton Kids 2018), the Dorling Kindersley Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life (2003, with David Lambert and Elizabeth Wyse), the Palaeontological Association book Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight (2001, with David Martill) and the highly acclaimed BBC Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence (2000, with David Martill), produced to accompany the TV series Walking with Dinosaurs. In 2010, he published The Great Dinosaur Discoveries as sole author.

In 2012, he published All Yesterdays with John Conway and C. M. Kosemen. It examines the palaeontological reconstruction of dinosaurs by applying the same method to living animal skeletons.

In 2017 Naish published Evolution in Minutes a book answering fundamental questions on the topic of evolution through a collection of mini-essays.

In 2021, he published Dinopedia, a book covering a variety of topics ranging from general concepts of dinosaur anatomy, groups of dinosaurs, significant people, locations, etc.

Naish has also published several books on cryptozoology, including Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology and the Reality Behind the Myths and Cryptozoologicon: Volume I with John Conway and C. M. Kosemen.

His name is also attached to several children's books on prehistoric animals. Naish is an associate editor for the journal Cretaceous Research and was also on the editorial board of the journal The Cryptozoology Review. He acts as a regular book reviewer for the Palaeontological Association.

Media

Naish has appeared widely on British television, having featured on BBC News 24, Channel 4's Sunday Brunch, Richard & Judy, and Live from Dinosaur Island, as well as the documentary How to build a dinosaur. He appeared on a Channel 4 discussion programme on cryptozoology, presented by journalist Jon Ronson, during the late 1990s. Naish's research on the giant Isle of Wight sauropod "Angloposeidon", on the pterosaur Tupuxuara, and on the sauropod Xenoposeidon was widely reported in the news media, as was his research paper on floating giraffes.

Naish was a scientific advisor for Impossible Pictures, for the 2020 Netflix series Alien Worlds, and for the Apple TV+ series Prehistoric Planet.

Naish has been featured in several stories about so-called mystery carcasses including the Montauk Monster, San Diego Demonoid, Beast of Exmoor, and a Russian mystery monster carcass. He emphasises the effects of taphonomy in making familiar animals unrecognisable.

Among the popular books by Naish that were widely featured in the media were the Cryptozoologicon and All Yesterdays.

In September 2022, Naish spoke at the United Nations Science Summit 2022.

{{anchor|Tetrapod Zoology}} Tetrapod Zoology

In 2006, Naish started a weblog, Tetrapod Zoology, that covered various aspects of zoology. In 2007 he joined the ScienceBlogs network. In July 2011, the blog moved to the Scientific American blog network, as of 31 July 2018 the blog has moved away from Scientific American and is hosted independently. Tetrapod Zoology covers various subjects concerning tetrapods. Topics have included frogs, reptiles, mammals, birds, dinosaurs, pterosaurs and cryptozoology. Together with colleagues Michael P. Taylor and Mathew Wedel, Naish also contributes to the Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week blog.

In 2010, Naish published a collection of early articles from Tetrapod Zoology as a book titled Tetrapod Zoology Book One.

Tetrapod Zoology Podcast

The Tetrapod Zoology Podcast was launched on 1 February 2013 and is the official podcast of the TetZooVerse. The podcast covers all things tetrapod and vertebrate palaeontology. The podcast is hosted by Naish and co-host John Conway, For episode 15 the regular hosts were joined by Memo Kosemen, co-author and artist of Cryptozoologicon.

Tetrapod Zoology Convention

TetZooCon was an annual meeting themed around the contents of the Tetrapod Zoology blog. The convention was first held on 12 June 2014 and took place in various venues in London until it ended, with the final event held in September 2024. The convention involved talks on a variety of subjects, ranging from palaeontology to cryptozoology, as well as workshops. The convention was organised by Naish and Conway; the former traditionally giving a talk himself, the latter hosting a workshop.

DinoCon

DinoCon is an annual palaeontology-themed convention, organised by Naish and PalaeoGames Ltd. It was first held in Exeter in August 2025.

Bibliography

• Naish, D. 2023. Ancient Sea Reptiles: Plesiosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, and More. Smithsonian Books.
• Naish, D. 2021. Dinopedia: A Brief Compendium of Dinosaur Lore. Princeton University Press.
• Naish, D. 2019. Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology and the Reality Behind the Myths Sirius Publications.
• Naish, D. 2017. Evolution in Minutes. Quercus. London.
• Naish, D. 2017. Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology and the Reality Behind the Myths. Sirius.
• Naish, D., Barrett, P. 2016. Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved. Smithsonian Books.
• Naish, D. 2015. Jurassic Record Breakers, Carlton Kids. London.
• Conway, J., Kosemen, C. M. & Naish, D. 2013. Cryptozoologicon Volume I. Irregular Books.
• Conway, J., Kosemen, C. M. & Naish, D. 2012. All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals. Irregular Books.
• Naish, D. 2011. Dinosaur Record Breakers. Carlton Books, London.
• Naish, D. 2010. Tetrapod Zoology Book One. CFZ Press, Bideford.
• Moody, R. T. J., Buffetaut, E., Naish, D. & Martill, D. M. 2010. Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Saurians: A Historical Perspective. Geological Society, London.
• Naish, D. 2010. Dinosaurs Life Size. Barron's Educational Series, New York.
• Naish, D. 2009. The Great Dinosaur Discoveries. A & C Black, London.
• Martill, D. M. & Naish, D. 2001. Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight. The Palaeontological Association, London.
• Martill, D. M. & Naish, D. 2000. Walking With Dinosaurs: The Evidence. BBC Worldwide, London.

References

References

1. Connor, Steve. (23 November 2004). "Dinosaur bones on Isle of Wight rewrite evolutionary history". The Independent.
2. (15 November 2007). "Fossil is new family of dinosaur".
3. Naish, Darren. (11 June 2015). "Jurassic World's missed opportunity (Opinion)".
4. (2020-02-25). "Meet Dr Darren Naish {{!}} National Maritime Museum Cornwall".
5. Naish, Darren. "Dinosaurs in the Wild: An Inside View".
6. "Darren Naish {{!}} University of Southampton".
7. "Darren Naish {{!}} BSc, M.Phil., PhD {{!}} University of Southampton, Southampton {{!}} Institute for Life Sciences (IfLS)".
8. (2001). "A preliminary account of a new tyrannosauroid theropod from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous) of southern England". Cretaceous Research.
9. (January 2002). "A reappraisal of Thecocoelurus daviesi (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association.
10. Naish, Darren. (January 2002). "The historical taxonomy of the Lower Cretaceous theropods (Dinosauria) Calamospondylus and Aristosuchus from the Isle of Wight". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association.
11. (1 June 2004). "Ecology, Systematics and Biogeographical Relationships of Dinosaurs, Including a New Theropod, from the Santana Formation (?Albian, Early Cretaceous) of Brazil". [[Historical Biology]].
12. (1 July 2004). "Heptasteornis was no ornithomimid, troodontid, dromaeosaurid or owl: The first alvarezsaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Europe". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte.
13. Naish, Darren. (1 January 2004). "New Zealand's giant gecko: a review of current knowledge of Hoplodactylus delcourti and the kawekaweau of legend". The Cryptozoology Review.
14. (2004). "Europe's largest dinosaur? A giant brachiosaurid cervical vertebra from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous) of southern England". Cretaceous Research.
15. (November 2005). "Solnhofen-Style Soft-Tissue Preservation in a New Species of Turtle from the Crato Formation (Early Cretaceous, Aptian) of North-East Brazil". [[Palaeontology (journal).
16. (July 2006). "Cranial crest development in the Azhdarchoid pterosaur Tupuxuara, with a review of the genus and tapejarid monophyly". Palaeontology.
17. (1 May 2007). "Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: basal Dinosauria and Saurischia". Journal of the Geological Society.
18. (1 May 2008). "Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: Ornithischia". Journal of the Geological Society.
19. (1 November 2007). "An Unusual New Neosauropod Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Hastings Beds Group of East Sussex, England". [[Palaeontology (journal).
20. (28 May 2008). "A Reappraisal of Azhdarchid Pterosaur Functional Morphology and Paleoecology". PLOS ONE.
21. (June 2009). "Head and Neck Posture in Sauropod Dinosaurs Inferred from Extant Animals". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
22. (July 2010). "Predicting the buoyancy, equilibrium and potential swimming ability of giraffes by computational analysis". Journal of Theoretical Biology.
23. (19 December 2011). "Does mutual sexual selection explain the evolution of head crests in pterosaurs and dinosaurs?". Lethaia.
24. (18 March 2013). "A New Small-Bodied Azhdarchoid Pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of England and Its Implications for Pterosaur Anatomy, Diversity and Phylogeny". PLOS ONE.
25. (2013). "Azhdarchid pterosaurs: water-trawling pelican mimics or 'terrestrial stalkers'?". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
26. (17 March 2015). "A Medium-Sized Robust-Necked Azhdarchid Pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Maastrichtian of Pui (Haţeg Basin, Transylvania, Romania)". American Museum Novitates.
27. (2017). "A new pycnodont fish, ''Scalacurvichthys naishi'' gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Cretaceous of Israel". [[Journal of Systematic Palaeontology]].
28. (29 September 2021). "New spinosaurids from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous, UK) and the European origins of Spinosauridae". [[Scientific Reports]].
29. (3 September 2020). "A highly pneumatic middle Cretaceous theropod from the British Lower Greensand". [[Papers in Palaeontology]].
30. (3 January 2012). "New Ophthalmosaurid Ichthyosaurs from the European Lower Cretaceous Demonstrate Extensive Ichthyosaur Survival across the Jurassic–Cretaceous Boundary". [[PLoS ONE]].
31. (2016). "Dinosaurs: how they lived and evolved". Natural History Museum.
32. Fastovsky, David E.. (24 August 2017). "Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved by Darren Naish and Paul Barrett". The Quarterly Review of Biology.
33. Naish, Darren. (2018). "Dinosaur Record Breakers". Carlton Books.
34. Lambert, David. (2003). "Encyclopedia of dinosaurs & prehistoric life". Dorling Kindersley.
35. (2001). "Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight". Palaeontological Association.
36. (2000). "Walking with dinosaurs: the evidence". BBC.
37. Naish, Darren. (2009). "The great dinosaur discoveries". A & C Black.
38. Naish, Darren. (2017). "Evolution in minutes". Quercus.
39. (2021-11-30). "N". Princeton University Press.
40. Naish, Darren. (September 2017). "Hunting monsters: cryptozoology and the reality behind the myths". Sirius.
41. Conway, John. (2013). "Cryptozoologicon: the biology, evolution, and mythology of hidden animals: volume 1". Irregular Books.
42. "Sunday Brunch – On Demand – All 4".
43. "Darren Naish on Twitter". Twitter.
44. "Live from Dinosaur Island (TV Mini-Series 2001– )".
45. Bootle, Oliver. (21 September 2011). "How to Build a Dinosaur".
46. (1997-03-25). "Cryptozoology".
47. Henderson, Mark. (23 November 2004). "Britain's biggest dinosaur roamed the Isle of Wight". [[The Times]].
48. Lloyd, Robin. (19 November 2007). "Newfound Dinosaur Dubbed 'Alien Sauropod'". Live Science.
49. (14 November 2007). "Student discovers new dinosaur". Metro.
50. Messenger, Stephen. (11 October 2018). "Think Giraffes Can't Swim? Science Proves They Can". TreeHugger.
51. "Giraffes can swim, though poorly: study". CBC News.
52. Quigley, Robert. (2 June 2010). "Glad That's Resolved: Computer Simulation Shows Giraffes Can Swim".
53. Funnell, Rachael. (6 April 2022). "Palaeontologists Rejoice As 'Prehistoric Planet' Presents A Realistic View Of The Cretaceous".
54. "Return of the Montauk Monster: Same Ol' Myth?". Live Science.
55. "National Geographic's ''Wild Case Files'' covers the 'Montauk monster'". Tetrapod Zoology.
56. (2 November 2012). "Montauk Monster and the Raccoon Body Farm – CSI".
57. Radford, Ben. (2 February 2012). "What Is This Chupacabra-Demonoid Monster?". Seeker.
58. Vaughan, Lloyd. (13 January 2009). "Animal's carcass not Exmoor Beast". This is The West Country.
59. idoubtit. (30 June 2015). "Russian mystery monster carcass – Busted". Doubtful News.
60. "What was the Montauk monster?". Tetrapod Zoology.
61. Newitz, Annalee. "Cryptozoologicon Could Revolutionize the Field of Monster Studies". io9.
62. "The Cryptozoologicon {{!}} Cryptid". Know Your Meme.
63. (2012). "Books: All Yesterdays". Irregular Books.
64. Hone, Dave Dr. (24 March 2013). "All Yesterdays – book review".
65. Newitz, Annalee. "A Book That Will Make You Question Everything You Know About Dinosaurs". io9.
66. (4 January 2013). "All Yesterdays: An Alternative Look at Dinosaurs". Tor.com.
67. "Agenda – Science Summit at UNGA".
68. "Darren Naish's schedule for Science Summit at United Nations General Assembly 77 (UNGA77)".
69. "Welcome to Tetrapod Zoology ver 4". Tetrapod Zoology Podcast.
70. (1 October 2007). "About SV-POW!". Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week.
71. Naish, Darren. (7 October 2010). "''Tetrapod Zoology Book One'' is here at last". Scienceblogs: Tetrapod Zoology.
72. "Tetrapod Zoology Podcast".
73. "Episode 15: Cryptozoologicon Special, Volume I". Tetrapod Zoology Podcast.
74. "TetZooCon".
75. (2024-10-08). "The Last TetZooCon".
76. Womack, Robyn. (12 November 2017). "Dinosaurs, Animal Farts and Pterosaur Sex: Tet Zoo Con 2017". Curious Clocks & Animals.
77. (2019). "New and Notable". Skeptical Inquirer.
78. Naish, Darren. (2015). "Jurassic record breakers". Carlton Books Ltd.
79. (2012). "All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals eBook: Darren Naish, C.M. Kosemen, John Conway, Scott Hartman". Irregular Books.
80. Naish, Darren. (2010). "Tetrapod zoology. Book one". CFZ Press.
81. Moody, Richard. (2010). "Dinosaurs and other extinct saurians: a historical perspective". Geological Society.
82. Naish, Darren. (2010). "Dinosaurs life size". Barron's.